The Labyrinth Navigation System
Was
there before the GPS (Global Positioning System)
of our time already a LNS (Labyrinth Navigation
System) in the Middle Ages?
If the "Lighting-hypothesis" of the
Berlin architect and historian for buildings Klaus
Kürvers
is true: Yes.
Together with the Berlin photographer Jürgen
Hohmuth he is working in a project documenting labyrinths
on the coast of Sweden and the investigation of a hypothesis
on their nautical function.
The "Torch-theory" is represented in
a book of Jürgen Hohmuth: Labyrinths and Mazes,
as contribution by Klaus Kürvers in the chapter The
Riddle of the Troytowns.
More about the book at Labyrinth
books on this website, and at www.zeitort.de
... Link >
You can read the hypothesis also
in a downloadable article in English with the title
Labyrinth and Seafaring at www.zeitort.de, projects > labyrinths
... Link >
Here are some topics of the hypothesis on the
nautical function of the "Cretan labyrinth pattern".
The Troytowns directly situated at the coast served
as nautical beacons when lighted by torches
or lanterns, thus making them visible from afar.
The
labyrinths at the coasts of Sweden, Finland, and Estonia are
connected with the development of Pilot Stations
in the Middle Ages.
The
labyrinths show a geographical reference to the orientation
of the goal and the mouth, and the environs. By this a connection
between the form and the function
of the labyrinths may be explained.
Photo: The Labyrinth of Skallanäs
in Sweden (to enlarge click please)
Copyright: Jürgen Hohmuth,
Berlin, Oct. 2002
The
figure of the labyrinth could have served as an instrument to
produce controlled nautical beacons. Through
the light it is a help for orientation by showing
the way and by deliverance.
The following animation tries to show the Principles
and the Application:
go
to the next page please >